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Ian Robinson

Current interests

Ian Robinson's main focus is on the precise measurement of Planck's constant using a watt balance, in order to redefine the kilogram in terms of a fundamental constant.

Biography

Ian joined NPL in 1976 from Oxford University and worked on dc and low-frequency measurements of resistance and voltage. He worked on the first moving-coil watt balance, which played a key part in determining a worldwide consensus value for the maintained volt (or ampere) in 1990, by measuring electrical power in terms of the base units of the SI. This work has had many spin-offs including a low-noise optical fibre data bus, which is used in a number of NPL electrical measurement instruments used in measurement laboratories around the world.

Ian has published/presented over 50 papers/articles and chairs the Consultative Committee for Electricity and Magnetism working group on electrical methods to monitor the stability of the kilogram.